Disney legend Ollie Johnston

Hmmm... I guess I haven't posted in a few days, and since I know teeming multitudes have been waiting with bated breath for new insight from me, I'd better get on it pronto!

Before I start, and before any of you lose interest, I just want to put in a quick plug for an excellent blog about the making of a new animated movie based on the Irish Book of Kells,
http://theblogofkells.blogspot.com

And that set me thinking about how I love animation...and how I've been fortunate to know one of the premier Disney legends, Oliver M. Johnston or Ollie Johnston, one of Walt Disney's Nine Old Men...in fact, the last surviving one.

Picture shows Old Men Marc Davis, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and Ward Kimball

Now in his 94th year, Ollie joined Disney in the 1930s, learning the ropes mostly under greats such as Art Babitt and, especially, Fred Moore. He soon became a supervising animator. While the animation process at Disney was a collaborative effort and it therefore is not technically correct to credit just one person with the design of a character, Ollie was largely responsible for bringing to life many classic Disney stars, such as Mr. Smee, Alice (in Wonderland), Baloo the bear, the three good fairies in Sleeping Beauty, and many others... in the last picture he actively worked on, The Rescuers, he even sneaked in a caricature of himself, in the shape of Rufus, the orphanage cat that comforts little Penny.

Ollie lookalike Rufus the Cat on the bed
next to Lil Orphan Penny - see the resemblance?

I had the good fortune of meeting Frank and his wife, Marie (who sadly passed away last year) more than 20 years ago... I was living in my hometown of Düsseldorf at the time. It was a pleasure spending time with that gracious couple. Later, I met Ollie again in Burbank, California...and we kept a loose pen-palship over the years.

Someday, when blogger photo uploads work properly again for me, I'll post some of the
wonderful X-mas cards he's sent me.

Even though I sometimes feel OLD at 43-and-a-half, I can't even begin what it must be like to be approaching 94... to have lived through such amazing times, to have spent 60+ years with a woman and then to lose her... to have left this rich and wonderful legacy of artwork...

here's to you, Ollie!